After your home planet turns into a smoking ruin, staying within the law stops being important.Van Orskey and Tayn Kassik missed the slaughter when the Federation cybersoldiers wrecked their world. With nothing left but each other, they've run to rival Coalition space. With no home but the Cormorant, an Explorer Class vessel they've liberated with the help of the shadowy Poksairian known only as Commander, they're free to run contraband and smuggle fugitives, with the occasional clandestine mission thrown in. Spending half their time in the ship's circuitry and the rest in spacer bars, they don't have or need any plan for the future.Until Tayn's body gets stolen.When your home planet is about to be turned into a smoking ruin, a prince does what he must.Prince Jorvik despises off-worlders, who come to planet Akiak to plunder her natural resources and enslave his people. Betrayed by his uncle, who's in bed with the Federation, Jorvik's only chance to free his people and take back his world is to hike a ride off-world to beg the Coalition's aid. Betrayed and with no one left to trust, the three men must form a bond, and overcome their differences, pitting themselves against insurmountable odds. Their very survival depends on it.